2021 ISL Playoffs Match 5, Day 1: Live Recap

2021 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – SEASON 3, MATCH 16 – PLAYOFFS MATCH 5

• Thursday, November 25th – Friday, November 26th
• 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm local time; 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST
• Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands
• Short Course Meters (25m – SCM) Format
• ISL Season 3 Schedules, Start Times, & More
• Live Results
• Teams Competing: Energy Standard, London Roar, LA Current, DC Trident
• Day 1 Start Lists

Lane Assignments

• Lanes 1 & 2: LA Current
• Lanes 3 & 4: Energy Standard
• Lanes 5 & 6: London Roar
• Lanes 7 & 8: DC Trident

The penultimate match of the 2021 ISL Playoffs begins today! Energy Standard, London Roar, the LA Current, and the DC Trident will square off in their final campaign to make the 2021 league final. Though it is already a near certainty that Energy Standard, the London Roar, and the LA Current are going to be competing in the final, this match will give fans somewhat of a preview of what they might expect to see December 3rd and 4th. The DC Trident, though the underdog in this match, has been swimming well this season and is not going to resign itself to 4th place without a fight.

Women’s 100 Butterfly

Energy Standard’s Sarah Sjostrom blasted the opening 50 of the women’s 100 fly, turning in 25.85, under he own World Record pace. Sjostrom extended her lead over the second 50 but fell off the World Record pace, touching the wall ultimately in 55.51, still nearly a second ahead of runner-up Anna Ntountounaki of the LA Current. Sjostrom jackpots LA’s Helena Gasson and DCs Annika Bruhn. Energy Standard takes the early lead in the match with 16 points.

Men’s 100 Butterfly

Tom Shields of the LA Current took the early lead in the men’s 100 fly and never gave it up. Shields blew away the field and was both the only man to hit the 50-meter turn in under 23 seconds (22.87) and the only man to finish the race in under 50 seconds, clocking in at 48.99. Shields used his world-class underwaters to blow past the field off every turn. Runner-up Chad le Clos of Energy Standard collected 7 points for his club in 50.07, two seconds off his best time. Shields manages a jackpot over London’s Duncan Scott who places 8th in 51.07. LA’s Tomoe Hvas managed a 3rd-place finish to give the Current 16 points total in the race versus Energy’s 9 points and London’s 5 points.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

London Roar’s Kira Toussaint looked like she had the race in the bag until the final 25 meters when Energy Standard’s Anastasiya Shkurdai made up the deficit and chased her down to get her hand on the wall first in 2:01.77 to Toussaint’s 2:02.36. Toussaint and Shkurdai had very similar splits until the final 50 when Shkurdai produced a 30.25 versus Toussaint’s 31.67. London’s Minna Atherton finished 4th while both swimmers from the DC Trident were jackpotted by Shkurdai.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Ryan Murphy dominated the men’s 200 backstroke, culminating in a 19-point victory, jackpotting half of the field. The London Roar did well to place 2nd and 3rd earning a total of 13 points in the race. Nonetheless, Murphy’s dominance propels the LA Current to a 5-point lead over Energy Standard and puts them in first in the team standings. Similar to the women’s 200 backstroke, both swimmers from the DC Trident have their points stolen by Murphy’s jackpot.

Team Points Update

1. LA Current – 51 points
2. Energy Standard – 46 points
3. London Roar – 38 points
4. DC Trident – 12 points

Women’s 200 Breaststroke

London’s Annie Lazor picked up the Roar’s first win of the day with a 2:18.90. DC’s Maria Temnikova ran 2nd throughout the entire race and ultimately finished 2nd, holding off a back-half charge from Energy Standard’s Evgenia Chikunova. LA’s Imogen Clark failed to meet the minimum time standard and was jackpotted by Lazor, as well as deducted 1 point. Energy Standard overtakes the LA Current for the lead in the team standings, 56 points to 55 points, respectively.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

DC’s Tommy Cope led the entire race until the final 25 meters when he was chased down by Energy Standard’s Ilya Shymanovich who blasted a 31.43 over the final 50 meters to get the win. Shymanovich’s final 50 was the second-fastest split of his race. LA’s Christopher Rothbauer managed a 3rd-place finish, though Hector Cruz placed 8th and was jackpotted and deducted a point for missing the minimum time standard. The London Roar earned just 5 points from this race while Energy Standard comes away with 15 points.

Women’s 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay

Energy Standard’s ‘A’ team may have gotten off to a rocky start with a 52.49 lead-off leg, but that was quickly forgotten as Siobhan Haughey produced a 50.70 split to put Energy in the lead. Haughey’s split comes in as the 8th-fastest freestyle relay split all-time (excluding splits on mixed relays). Sarah Sjostrom also posted a 51.73 to anchor Energy’s squad, finishing in an overall time of 3:27.73, nearly 4 seconds ahead of the runners-up from the DC Trident. Energy Standard’s ‘B’ Team as well as DC’s ‘B’ team both fell victim to Energy’s jackpot, giving Energy Standard a total of 24 points in the race. The DC Trident take away 14 points while the London Roar collect 18 thanks to 4th- and 5th-place finishes. The LA Current manage 18 points as well–notably, Madison Wilson led off for LA’s ‘B’ team in a 51.88, the 3rd-fastest split in the entire field.

Team Points Update

1. Energy Standard – 93 points
2. LA Current – 78 points
3. London Roar – 73 points
4. DC Trident – 45 points

Men’s 50 Freestyle

London’s Kyle Chalmers and Energy’s Ben Proud fought a close battle in the men’s 50 freestyle, though it was Chalmers in his characteristic back-end speed that propelled him to the wall 0.04 ahead of Proud for the victory. Chalmers also earns a 1-point jackpot over DC’s Sergey Shevtsov. London scores a total of 15 points in the men’s 50 freestyle, better than Energy Standard’s 9 points, LA’s 9.5 points, and DC’s 3.5 points. LA’s Apostolos Christou and DC’s Ryan Hoffer tied for 5th and therefore each win 3.5 points.

Women’s 50 Freestyle

Energy Standard’s Sarah Sjostrom blasted to victory in 23.12, just 0.04 off of her own ISL Record. Sjostrom manages a jackpot over half of the field, pulling in 19 points total. LA’s Abbey Weitzeil finished 2nd and teammate Madison Wilson finished 4th, giving the Current a total of 12 points in the event, while DC’s Anna Hopkin finished 3rd to give the Trident 6 points.

Men’s 200 IM

London duo Duncan Scott and Vini Lanza did battle with LA’s Javier Acevedo who looked very strong swimming in lane 1. Scott took over the lead from Lanza after the butterfly and had established a 2-second lead after the backstroke. Scott extended his lead on the breaststroke with a massive 28.17 split, though Acevedo also produced a strong 29.08 split on the breaststroke, overtaking Lanza for the second position. Lanza reeled in Acevedo in the freestyle to finish 2nd behind Scott, though Scott’s win was substantial and resulted in a 19-point haul for London which, coupled with Lanza, comes to a total of 26 points for the Roar. The LA Current also did well to place 3rd and 4th earning a total of 11 points. The DC Trident and Energy Standard were both completely robbed of their points.

Women’s 200 IM

London’s Sydney Pickrem pulled off a commanding victory in the women’s 200 IM, despite falling behind Energy Standard’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (by 0.01) at the 100-meter turn after the backstroke. Szuszanna Jakabos came through for the DC Trident to place 3rd while teammate Bailey Andison placed 5th for a total of 10 points for the Trident. Pickrem earns 12 points total as she jackpots two of her competitors–in fact, Helena Rosendahl Bach and Mikaela Dahlke both failed to meet the minimum time standard and were therefore penalized with 1-point deductions for each of their teams.

Men’s 50 Breaststroke

Energy Standard was dominant in this race in a way we’ve rarely seen. Ilya Shymanovich and Felipe Lima placed 1-2 and hauled in all 37 points available for Energy Standard. Shymanovich was just 0.22 off of his own World Record, set just weeks ago.

Women’s 50 Breaststroke

London’s Alia Atkinson dominated the field in the women’s 50 breaststroke hauling in a total of 19 points. The LA Current placed 2nd and 3rd to earn a total of 13 points, a much-needed infusion for the Current. Energy Standard’s Siobhan Haughey, a freestyle specialist, placed 4th to earn Energy 5 points. The DC Trident are robbed of all of their points, a pretty detrimental blow to their hopes of placing higher than 4th in this match.

Men’s 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay

The London Roar posted the fastest time of the ISL season with a 3:04.47, buoyed by a massive 45.12 anchor leg from Kyle Chalmers. Duncan Scott, who swam both the 100 fly and 200 IM earlier in the session, posted a 46.09 split as the 3rd leg of the relay. Every team saw one of its squads’ points stolen, though every team also managed to earn points. The London Roar earned a total of 38 points total, a massive jackpot, while the ‘B’ squad from the LA Current failed to meet the minimum time standard and were deducted 2 points.

Team Points Update

1. London Roar – 188 points
2. Energy Standard – 179 points
3. LA Current – 136.5 points
4. DC Trident – 76.5 points

Women’s 50 Backstroke

London’s Kira Toussaint got the win in her best event, finishing in 26.09, just 0.2 ahead of DC Trident’s Linnea Mack. No jackpots here, so every team comes away with some points. The DC Trident earn 12 points thanks to 2nd- and 4th-place finishes, while London comes out with 13 points. Energy Standard comes away with just 5 points, one of their worst finishes of the day.

Men’s 50 Backstroke

LA’s Ryan Murphy blasted a new ISL and American Record in 22.53, getting off the blocks in a blazing 0.47 reaction time. DC’s Mark Nikolaev managed a 2nd-place finish in 22.70 while the long course 50 backstroke World Record holder Kliment Kolesnikov posted a 23.04 for 3rd. Murphy manages to jackpot 3 of the other swimmers in the field for a total of 15 points.

Women’s 400 Freestyle

Siobhan Haughey had a narrow lead of just 0.12 over DC’s Leah Neale at the 100-meter turn to pick up the jackpot points. Haughey maintained the lead but DC’s Joanna Evans surged from the half-way point onward to ultimately place 2nd. Haughey finishes with 17 points versus Evans’ 10 points. Overall the DC Trident scores 19 points in this race, just as many points as Energy Standard, while London comes away with just 9 points and LA only 6 points.

Men’s 400 Freestyle

LA’s Fernando Scheffer blasted it out, turning in a 49.62 to capture the jackpot, but despite leading through the first 350 meters Scheffer was run down by London’s Tom Dean, who produced a 26.75 on the final 50 to win the race 0.55 ahead of Scheffer. Even so, the LA Current comes away with a total of 25 points in this race while London comes away with just 13 points. The DC Trident suffer with 7th- and 8th-place finishes, while Energy Standard earns just 9 points.

Women’s 4 x 100 Medley Relay

The London Roar earned the right to choose the stroke of the 50 skins by earning a huge 30 points in the women’s 400 medley relay. While the backstroke splits were solid across the board, the freestyle splits stand out in that Emma McKeon, Sarah Sjostrom, and Abbey Weitzeil all split under 51.5 seconds. Anastasiya Shkurdai, who won the 200 backstroke earlier in the session, posted a 55.14 butterfly split for Energy Standard, by far the fastest in the field.

Men’s 4 x 100 Medley Relay

Energy Standard became unbeatable when Ilya Shymanovich dove in and produced a 55.00 breaststroke split, more than 2 seconds faster than anyone else in the field. Energy jackpots their own ‘B’ team as well as the ‘B’ team from the DC Trident. The LA Current earn a total of 20 points in this race, meaning that if Energy had not pulled off the jackpot, LA might have gotten the final say of the men’s skins selection.

Team Scores – Day 1:

1. London Roar – 280 points
2. Energy Standard – 264 points
3. LA Current – 221.5 points
4. DC Trident – 141.5 points